March 16, 2017

National Close the Gap Day commemorated at UOW

Graduate Medicine holds special event for Close the Gap Day. 

In 2007 the Australian Government committed to ‘Close the Gap’ by achieving equality for Indigenous people in health and life expectancy.

On the tenth National Close the Gap Day, Thursday 16 March, UOW hosted a special event to commemorate the tenth year of the campaign, inviting University staff, students, Aboriginal community members and members of the broader community to come together in awareness of the campaign.

UOW Graduate Medicine proudly partners with local Aboriginal communities throughout the Illawarra and Shoalhaven, giving medical students the opportunity to engage with the community and learn first hand what is happening in health and medicine.

UOW Graduate Medicine Discipline Leader: Indigenous Health, Scott Winch, said the efforts undertaken by the University to incorporate engagement with local indigenous communities in medical degrees would ultimately lead to better doctors and better health outcomes.

“Aboriginal people in the Illawarra are approximately twice as likely to be hospitalised as non-Aboriginal people, with many of these potentially preventable through improved health care in the community,” he said.

“Ultimately we want to improve health and social outcomes for Aboriginal people, and to do so we all need to work together to close the gap.”

As part of National Close the Gap Day, UOW Graduate Medicine hosted a short presentation that included morning tea, live music from local community members and a BBQ lunch. A piece of artwork was handed over to UOW by Coomaditchie Women’s Business, representing healing through art.